


Final Fantasy Type 0 Side Story: Naghi’s Mission

by Miyu_Kagirohi



Series: Final Fantasy Type 0 Fan-Fictions [1]
Category: Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy Type-0
Genre: Assassination, Betrayal, Espionage, Friendship, True Love, War Crimes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:01:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 10,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28359756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miyu_Kagirohi/pseuds/Miyu_Kagirohi
Summary: Delve deep into the dark side of Rubrum's military might, as Naghi and his Class Ninth colleagues jumped into action regarding the suspicious mission of the Cadetmaster, the "Assassination of Cid Aulstyne".
Relationships: Kurasame Susaya/Miwa
Series: Final Fantasy Type 0 Fan-Fictions [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2076891
Kudos: 2





	1. Opening My Heart

**Sil. VI 835 R.G.**

Naghi couldn’t shake his feeling of proud, he just met the Four Champions personally, despite only meeting the three of them. Furthermore, he always saw himself as a cold, emotionless person, every Class Ninth cadet was taught to be like so, but his encounter with one of the champions, Miwa, seemed to open his heart, he thought to himself he couldn’t be like this forever, he wouldn’t want to imagine himself growing up missing all the fun a young man could ever have. That day, Naghi resolved to bring joy to his classmates, even a slight hint of smile from his classmates would make him happy, he knew that they still had to be cold and emotionless outside the class, but on the inside, he wanted everyone to be at least experience how it felt as a normal person.

Naghi’s Class Ninth ranged from those as young as himself and those as old as Kurasame, his idol, but it didn’t stop him from delivering jokes to lighten his gloomy class, his first attempt ended in failure as the majority of his class shook their heads in awkwardness, his jokes were just so terrible that one of his classmates stepped forward and dragged him back to his seat.

“Come on, that’s enough. I’d rather hear our CO’s boring lecture than your horrible jokes.”

Naghi’s feet got slightly scratched as he was hastily dragged back to his seat, this person who dragged him was 4 years older than him, but her power matched those who were ages away than her.

“That hurts, Yui! Please stop…” said Naghi, who was still being dragged.

His suffering finally ended as Yui reached Naghi’s seat, one could only imagine how hurt it was for Naghi, because his seat was at the furthest row on the back, and he got dragged from the front of the class towards back there.

After all of his lectures were done, Naghi returned home, as the Section Four facility wasn’t that far away from Corsi, he didn’t have to waste much energy walking home all by himself. Knocking the door several times, nobody answered to open the door.

“ _Well, I guess nobody’s home yet, guess I’ll spent some time around the town._ ”

Naghi decided to take a short walk around the town, fate seemed to intervene at that time, if only someone opened the door, Naghi wouldn’t have the chance to see this mysterious person who seemed to be attracting attention from the townsfolks. Taking a closer look, this person turned to be a comedian, hailing from the town of Meroe, he seemed to be doing pretty well as the townsfolks were amused by his jokes. His jokes were in fact really funny, and Naghi admitted this, none of the townsfolks left before this comedian finished his show.

The comedian’s show took around half an hour until he finished it with a very cracking joke which left a lot of the townsfolk laughing their butts off. The townsfolks applauded him cheerfully, this man just succeeded in making the townsfolks happy, they deserved at least some entertainments during these dark times where there had been endless wars between the four nations of Orience. The crowds then dispersed, resuming their daily activities, but one person still remained, as he wanted to talk with him.

“Hello there, young man,” he said, giving Naghi a smile, “Can I help you?”

“Teach me.”

“Teach what? Being a comedian?” he then laughed for a moment, he couldn’t believe that Naghi, an Agito cadet, wanted to be taught about being a comedian.

Naghi looked upset. “Is it strange for me to learn being funny?”

The comedian seemed to sympathize Naghi, the latter must’ve been serious on learning on becoming a comedian, he didn’t intend to become one, but he must’ve wanted to use those skills to bring happiness to those around him, like what this comedian did earlier to the townsfolks. The comedian ultimately decided to stick around the town while he teach Naghi a thing or two about being an entertainer.

“Alright, kid. There are no lectures tomorrow for you right?”

“Yeah, it’s a free day.”

“Good. Come see me tomorrow on the town square.”


	2. The Comedian's Teaching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naghi's encounter with the comedian seemed to open his heart, and now he wanted to study under the man to learn further into the arts of comedy.

**Sil. VII 835 R.G.**

The next day, Naghi woke up early, as he couldn’t help his excitement to meet the comedian. He even went to the town square ahead of their promised time. While he was waiting for the comedian, he stopped by an ice cream stand not far from the town square, he had been craving for one for weeks, those missions he took outside Rubrum seemed to make him miss the special taste of Corsi’s Chocolate Ice Cream, but now that he was home, he could finally enjoy one, he took each bite of the ice cream with all his heart, because he would never know when he could enjoy another.

After around fifteen minutes waiting, the comedian finally showed up.

He said, rubbing his head, “Sorry, kid. It seems I overslept.”

“It’s fine, Mr. Comedian.”

“Please call me Mr. Nishimura. Let’s take a walk as I talk with you.”

They both took a walk while Nishimura went straight to his point about becoming a comedian. The first thing he taught Naghi was that he had to consider the mood of the audiences, that would help him to decide what theme he would be delivering. The second thing Naghi had to look out for was to avoid any offensive jokes, because it was not easy delivering jokes without offending others, all the while Nishimura gave his lecture, Naghi seemed to be serious with it that he took several notes.

Just as Nishimura about to give him the third lesson, they came upon several children who were playing in the playground, and suddenly, one of the child fell to the ground, hard. Nishimura rushed to this child’s side, and without hesitation, he conjured a healing magic, shocking both the child and Naghi themselves. This gave away a slight hint on who he was in the past.

Taking a seat on the park, Naghi decided to jump to his question.

“Guess there was no hiding it,” Nishimura said, smirking. “I was a cadet, just like you.”

“Really?! Which class did you belong to?”

“Class Sixth, the last class on Akademeia.”

Naghi frowned, there were ten classes on Akademeia, Nishimura mentioning Class Sixth being the last class poked Naghi’s curiosity even further, this man could be very old from what Naghi felt.

“That maroon cape, I didn’t recognize it before. Which class do you belong to, kid?”

“Class Ninth.”

Nishimura nodded, there must’ve been a lot of change ever since the last time he became a cadet.

“Figures. What do you specialize on?”

Naghi’s brain was busy arranging the words, he couldn’t giveaway the true identity of Class Ninth cadets. Using the only thing he could only think of, he said, “We specialize on public speaking.”

“Really?” Nishimura frowned. “That’s boring. I thought you’re like third layer black mages or something.”

“No, we aren’t. Akademeia also needed peoples like us.”

“I see. Well then, shall I continue my lecture?”

“Fire away, Mr. Nishimura.”

Nishimura continued his comedian 101, onto the third lesson. Naghi had to maintain his expression all the time, if he delivered a joke using a sad expression, it would make it awkward for the audiences, this was obvious for Naghi, but he didn’t know it was actually very hard to pull off while doing it, one could suddenly lose their composure while delivering their jokes even though they spent several minutes or even hours preparing to do so.

“And now, the last thing you should know is…” Nishimura grinned. “There are no rules.”

Naghi frowned. “W-what? I don’t understand.”

“What I told you for the last thirty minutes is just some bullshit.”

Naghi teared his note, but he was grinning. “Actually, it wasn’t bullshit. I got your point, the only thing I should know was that ‘I have to be myself’ and let my mind do the work.”

“You’re a quick learner,” said Nishimura, smiling, he was actually expecting Naghi to say so if he really followed his lectures to the letter.

Naghi was proud of his achievement, he was a natural on this matter, just a week ago he was just a cold, emotionless young man, and after a week of encounters with several individuals, all that coldness turned into a warmness inside him, he could even deliver jokes of his own from that point on. He took a trial run with Nishimura, and the latter honestly admitted that Naghi did really well.

It was almost nighttime and Nishimura had to leave the town for his next tour, he would be returning to Meroe for his annual grand show, and he was already a day behind schedule for his return journey. Naghi helped him packing his belongings and went to the stables to retrieve Nishimura’s chocobo.

Before he left, Nishimura said, “Say, if you kids happen to be at Meroe, do visit me on my home there, you’ll know it when you see it.”

“Of course, Mr. Nishimura. Thanks for everything!”

“One more thing. I have a cousin by the name of Faia, he’s a cadet just like you. If you do meet him, give him my regards.”

Naghi nodded. Then, Nishimura took off for his one-day journey back to Meroe, they never knew when they would meet again.


	3. A Looming Threat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naghi's fun time is being put to an end as he finally returned to his duties as one of the dark secrets of Rubrum.

**Sil. X 835 R.G.**

Thanks to Nishimura’s somewhat unorthodox tutelage, Naghi’s newfound talent started to ease the hearts of his classmates, him being locked outside his home the day he met Nishimura seemed to be the best thing that ever happened to him during his life. Thanks to Naghi, Class Ninth finally started to realize that there were a lot of things to do on their lives, even though they had to maintain their attitudes at all times being spies, assassins, and whatnot. Some of his classmates even planned to form a band, as there would be a talent show at the end of year on Akademeia, these guys finally realized that their talents had gone to waste being unable to show it during their times as Class Ninth cadets. What Naghi did started a trend of Class Ninth being the class containing a lot of talents in entertainment.

All that fun would be soon put to a halt as they must return to one of the most important missions in their careers, the mission to assassinate the Imperial Marshall, Cid Aulstyne, issued by the Cadetmaster herself just few days back. After gathering all of the intel, Naghi, discovered a lot of suspicious things, his genius in espionage started to shine after he found one particular detail in the mission that needed attention. Naghi was with Miwa when they gathered the intel on the snowy plains to map the route around the facility where Cid would be in. However, on the mission detail, the route was radically changed. Taking the ultimate decision, he called a meeting with those who were at the scouting mission, Takumi and Yui.

Yui said, “This is strange to me. So what’s the point of our scouting mission if they chose this route instead?”

“I know this route,” Takumi pointed, “do you guys remember the time on our entry trials?”

“I do. This place is very isolated from pretty much everything, it would look great on paper, but if something happened, you wouldn’t know what happened there.”

Naghi frowned. “Now that you mention it, was this mission sanctioned by the other Consortium members beside the Cadetmaster?”

“Nope, as usual, this is an unsanctioned mission.”

Strangely enough, Kurasame told these guys that the Cadetmaster said this mission was **sanctioned** by the Consortium. That was already a red flag for them, and there had to be something planned by the Cadetmaster.

“This is bad. I think I know what’s happening here.”

Takumi revealed some days before the mission was sanctioned, he was at the Section Four front gates when he saw a suspicious man seemed to be heading towards Akademeia, it was night at that time and he couldn’t clearly saw the man’s face. Ridden with curiosity, he followed him to Akademeia, and as the man crossed the bridge, Takumi finally caught a glimpse of his identity, it was Milites’ most trusted diplomat, Major Quintus Belfarre. Still filled with curiosity, he sneaked himself towards Akademeia through a backdoor that were only privy to intelligence officers whenever they felt the need to do so.

“Well, that door has it uses.” Joked Yui.

“Right, but let’s get back on my story.”

The fact that Takumi took the backdoor meant that he lost sight of Quintus, but his guts told him that he would be heading to the Consortium’s office, surprisingly, he was wrong. There was no one there and he just wasted some precious time on catching the man. His next guess was that the man was heading towards the Cadetmaster’s office. Unfortunately, by the time he reached the hall leading to her office, the man already left the room, forcing Takumi to hide.

Takumi asked, “How much do you guys know about Major Belfarre?”

“Not much,” both of them said.

“Well, to begin with, I theorized that Major Belfarre just defected to us by giving us the details about Cid’s whereabouts later on. But then I realized, Major Belfarre was one of the most fanatic figures in Milites, and he put a lot of efforts on becoming their Diplomat.

“Besides, him risking all of this puts his family in danger, including the young prodigy scientist, Ines Belfarre, I’m sure you guys know her.”

“Ines Belfarre? Quintus Belfarre? Oh, she must be his daughter judging from their names.”

“That’s correct, Yui. Your general logic still works after all.”

Naghi’s face finally showed his expression of suspicion “Let’s gather what we know.”

All the pieces finally been put together, and Naghi finally came up with a logical explanation to all of these suspicious details. The Four Champions of Rubrum, the three of them, were walking into a trap, they must’ve been sold by the Cadetmaster for an unknown reason they’ve yet to discover. The Cadetmaster must’ve been avoiding further bloodshed by excluding the Class Ninth cadets on this particular mission, even though they would’ve been more reliable when it comes to assassinations such as this. Their scouting mission turned out to be a formality to avoid suspicion from the Class Ninth cadets. Furthermore, they still had the traitor Guren to deal with, he must’ve been involved in this mission somehow.

Yui said, “Are you saying that Cadet Guren would be killing his own friends?”

“That must be it. What else could it be?”

Takumi silenced them. “If Cadet Guren was to assassinate them, you wouldn’t be seeing me and Kurasame anymore.”

He was right, Takumi and Kurasame stumbled upon Guren during their scouting mission. If Guren intended to kill The Champions, he could’ve just done it right away when he met them. Furthermore, Guren mentioned something that had been troubling both Kurasame and Takumi ever since. “ _Some things are more important than the Champions’ mission._ ”

“I tried to take him down, but I was just too confident. He could have killed me right there and then, but somehow, I survived. Kurasame told me not to speak about it with anybody else, but now that we know something’s off, I have to tell you guys.”

“This only means one thing…” Naghi said, grabbing their attention, “Cadet Guren knew something we don’t know.”

“That’s one way of putting it.”

Even more pieces started to fall apart, they realized that the Intelligence Division never left a work unfinished, meaning the Cadetmaster wouldn’t be issuing another mission while they were busy hunting down Guren, it would be strange having two large and radical missions issued on short notice. Whatever her plan was, Guren must’ve hindered it, somehow.

“I have a plan, but it’s dangerous.” 

“Find Cadet Guren and ask him about it?”

“Exactly. Smart guess, Naghi.”

Yui extended her arms, taking a long deep breath. “Alright then, when do we start?”


	4. Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naghi and his colleagues set out on a journey to unveil the truth behind the Cadetmaster's mission, by finding Cadet Guren, who was said to be hiding around the outskirts of Hendon Stronghold

**Sil. I 835 R.G.**

Cadetmaster’s Office, a day after Guren’s betrayal,

At late midnight, Kotetsu headed to the Cadetmaster’s office, readying to deliver the bad news.

“He knows. I’m sure of it.”

“Are you sure?” the Cadetmaster said, frowning.

“Guren loves the Dominion as much as I am. He wouldn’t be doing it unless he knows that something’s going on.”

“Time is of the essence, then. I’ll inform the Intelligence Division to proceed with Cid’s assassination.”

Kotetsu was a little worried, what she did was really unorthodox. “Wouldn’t that make the Intelligence Operatives suspicious? They shouldn’t be issued another big mission while leaving the other unfinished.”

“What choice do we have? Now off you go, prepare yourself for the scouting mission.”

Kotetsu turned his back and started to head back towards the door. “Affirmative. May the Crystal guide us all.”

**Sil. XI 835 R.G.**

Naghi set out on the journey to find Guren with Takumi and Yui, the three of them armed themselves just in case Guren acted dangerously when they would eventually find him. Naghi used his self-made switchblade, a beautifully made switchblade that one, its handle was colored red, signifying his love for Rubrum, Naghi could be small in comparison to his colleagues, but due to his size, he was known as the most agile operative the Class Ninth cadets ever known. Even though he was still a kid, Naghi knew the risks being on this dangerous mission, if Guren indeed betrayed the Dominion on his own accord, he was surely not afraid to put down Naghi if he had to.

After nearly two hours of marching inland towards the outskirts of Hendon stronghold, they found several footsteps leading to an isolated cave, being intelligence officers, these three operatives knew the footsteps weren’t from a Militesi soldier’s boots, but rather from someone from the Dominion judging from the shoe pattern of the trail. The moment they entered the cave, they knew that they were being watched, and as a sign of peace, the three conjured their weapons, only to drop it to the ground. They could’ve been killed right there and then if the figure watching them was indeed hostile. Thankfully, in their case, this figure emerged, weaponless from the shadows.

“You got some nerve coming here.”

“Cadet Guren! I knew it was you,” Takumi shouted.

“What do you want from me?”

Naghi stepped forward. “What does it look like? You saw us disarming ourselves.”

“I saw it. So, how much do you know?”

“We don’t know that much just yet,” Naghi continued. “But what we know is that you aren’t the real traitor.”

Yui also stepped forward. “You can’t be a traitor, you aren’t bright enough to do so,” she said, chuckling between her words.

“What did you say to me?!” Guren’s heart was suddenly filled with anger.

Takumi intervened, “Stop it. We’re not here to fight, let’s calm down and find a place to sit down.”

They took a seat in a rock formation, it might be not comfortable for them, but it had to do for the time being. The trio then revealed what they knew about the suspicious mission Kurasame and his colleagues were about to do. Guren already knew everything, but he waited for them to reveal everything to ensure himself that these three weren’t hostile. He finally trusted them the moment Naghi mentioned that the Champions were about to walk into a trap, an ambush to be exact, and there was a possibility that either one of those three were the real traitor.

“Good find. You guys were the best decision Rubrum made. Are you ready to find out about the truth?”

“Born ready.”

“Good. Don’t sound surprised.”

Guren revealed everything to the letter, the mission, the trap, everything, but he didn’t mention Kotetsu until the very end of his revelation, only on the very last sentence of his revelation, he revealed that Kotetsu accepted a mission to kill all of the Champions of Rubrum, Guren and Kotetsu themselves included, all for the Cadetmaster to obtain an information regarding a secret project Milites had been working on for years, “The Ultima Weapon”. The trio’s composure was being put to a test as they tried to comprehend the bitter truth that Kotetsu, willingly accepted a mission to kill his own friends that he had known, befriended, laughed with for years.

“You’re not surprised. You guys really are cold.”

Yui proudly remarked, “That’s us for you.”

“What do you have in mind, Cadet Guren?”

“I was planning to intervene in that secret road you told me, but I know that I could die in the process, but at the very least, I wanted to save Kurasame and Miwa.”

“I see. Need a hand?” Takumi asked, even though Guren nearly killed him days before, he finally knew that Guren was actually not an enemy.

“We have too little time,” –he took a deep breath— “besides, Kotetsu is very dangerous.”

“Well, can we at least help with something?”

These operatives seemed to be eager to try to help, and Guren could see that by only looking through their eyes. Taking some considerations, Guren finally welcomed them to the team to rescue the Champions. Unfortunately, there were just too little time for them to be properly planning to help him in the field, and thus, Guren had something else in mind.

“I want you guys to bring the Cadetmaster to justice, whether it’d be alive or dead, it’s up to you.”

“Tak, that’s your specialty.”

Takumi nodded. Moving on to his next plan, in order to ensure all of the plan goes well, they need to find a way somehow to communicate.

“I can do something with that, that’s my expertise,” Yui said.

“Okay, good. Make sure it’s only us that are able to communicate, we can’t tap into Kurasame’s team COMM, as Kotetsu should be on the same channel.”

Yui nodded. “Got it, but this means we can’t talk with the champions.”

“It’s fine. Now that leaves us with one more thing I need.”

Guren needed someone to back him up, and Naghi was the only one left that was still unassigned anywhere. However, Takumi disagreed, Naghi was still too young to be fighting in his mind.

“Let’s swap places, you take care of the Cadetmaster, and I’ll back up Cadet Guren.”

“No,” Naghi said, shaking his head. “It’s a big task, and you’re better than me in that department.”

“But…! You’ll be risking your very life!”

Naghi smirked. “Let us not forget that Cadet Guren kicked your butt, surely I’m the better fighter than you.”

Takumi couldn’t argue any further, handling the Cadetmaster would be too heavy for Naghi, it had to be perfectly planned to ensure the truth truly brought into light, as the one handling it wouldn’t be only facing the Cadetmaster face-to-face, but rather had to gather some important documents before even executing the plan, this part of the job could only be pulled off by Takumi as he was the expert on that matter. At the end of the day, Takumi agreed on Naghi being the one to back up Guren in the field.

Guren looked away. “There is one more problem, though.”

“What is it?”

“Morse.”

Naghi frowned. “Sergeant Morse? What is he up to?”

Morse had an order to kill or at least reduce Kurasame’s capability on fighting so that the latter could be killed easily by the time he entered Hendon Stronghold, if he still could leave the place alive, it would at least make it easier for Kotetsu to finish the job.

“I hate to say this, but, there’s nothing we can do about that. What we must do is to ensure Kurasame and the team didn’t reach Hendon Stronghold at all.”

Earlier, the Class Ninth operatives revealed that the Champions would be departing from Rubrum in waves with Miwa being the first one to set out, and as for Kurasame, he would be the last one departing, each of them would leave after ten minutes after the other.

“We can intercept Cadet Miwa on the way here, and tell her the truth.”

Guren hold the thought for a while. “Well, as much as I hate to admit it being that simple, I guess that’s the way.”

“Wait,” Takumi interrupted. “Cadet Kotetsu will be the second one to head out, what are you planning to do with him?”

“It’s easy.”

Naghi offered a solution by having Kotetsu believing there would be a change in their plan and that they had to regroup on the ambush grounds, all the while they wait until everyone got there, including Kurasame.

“That puts Cadet Miwa in danger, can we do something about it?”

“Just tell her to mind her distance with him later on,” Yui said.

Guren clapped his hands. “Alright then, that’s the plan. Now we wait until the mission day. May the Crystal guides us all.”


	5. The Endgame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the plan set up, all they have to do now is to wait until the fateful day arrives.

**Sil. XII 835 R.G.**

Takumi and Yui’s Arc,

The fateful morning had arrived as the Cadetmaster finally issued the marching orders for the Champions to assassinate Cid Aulstyne, they would be marching on the night as ordered. Takumi was eavesdropping outside of her office and immediately rushed to signal Yui who was at the Central Command to set everything in motion. To the team’s favor, the room wasn’t that crowded, allowing Yui to easily steal four set of COMMs for them to use, she gave two to Naghi, who was at the Chocobo stables, ready to leave at moment’s notice, she then gave one to Takumi who would be stuck on Akademeia most of the time on the mission. With all the communications secured, Yui immediately rode towards Section Four where she could communicate better with the other operatives.

Upon reaching Section Four, the two would be parting their ways.

“This is where we’ll split. Good luck, and be careful, Naghi.”

“You too, Yui.”

Within minutes, Naghi disappeared from the horizon as he rode towards Hendon outskirts to rendezvous with Guren, his eagerness could be seen as clear as daylight, this was the biggest day on his life, he would be very proud of himself if he could pull this off at the end of the day.

Meanwhile, back at Akademeia, Takumi made his move when the hour reached the time of lecture sessions where everyone would be busy on their classrooms. He asked one of his classmates to distract the Cadetmaster to leave her office so that he could sneak into her room, stealing any documents related to the mission. That one classmate of Takumi’s was really good at distracting the Cadetmaster, as she ended up spending an hour talking with the cadet, this cadet brought up the topic of the Intelligence Division’s development on the cadets’ department, which interested her very much. By the time the Cadetmaster returned to her office, she couldn’t even realize that the documents of her arrangement with Major Belfarre were all but gone.

With the important documents in hand, Takumi brought it all to the Head of Intelligence Division, Riiroi Matsumaeda, to seek counsel on him whether they should apprehend the Cadetmaster or bring the justice with their own hands. Riiroi felt apprehending the Cadetmaster would be the worst thing to do, as unveiling the truth behind her betrayal would cause unrest within the citizens of Rubrum, it would forever taint the said “undying loyalty” of Consortium members.

“I mean, come on, she sold four kids whom we’ve treasured to the highest bidder. We cannot tolerate this level of treason.”

“So, what? Should I… well, you know.”

“As much as I hate to say it, yes… it’s the only course of action possible. If you brought this to me sooner, I might’ve find a better way.”

Takumi sighed. “I wish I could, Mr. Matsumaeda. We only discovered this not two days ago.”

“I see. On behalf of the people of Rubrum, I hereby permit you the assassination of the Cadetmaster. Good luck, Cadet Takumi.”

“Thank you, Mr. Matsumaeda.”

With everything clear, Takumi resolved to execute his plan only when Naghi and the others returned safely to Akademeia, the Cadetmaster was still unaware of their plan and wouldn’t be going anywhere anyways, so Takumi could afford to wait.

Naghi’s Arc,

After nearly two hours of riding inland, Naghi finally reached the outskirts of Hendon Stronghold, ultimately regrouping with Guren in the cave where they met days ago. Upon glaring towards Guren’s eyes, he could see the killer look in those vermillion eyes of his, Guren seemed to be resolved in killing Kotetsu if necessary. Guren himself couldn’t tolerate Kotetsu’s _in a flash_ decision where he didn’t even think first before accepting the mission to kill the Champions. Deep inside Guren’s heart, Kotetsu was no longer his friend, even though they were friends for years, all that campaigns, sufferings, and joys they experienced together suddenly meant nothing for Guren when Kotetsu accepted that mission.

“Are you ready?”

“We Class Ninth cadets are made for this, Cadet Guren. I’m more than ready.”

“Made?” Guren chuckled. “That’s a funny way to put it. But, seriously though, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

“Your welcome. Shall we make a quick briefing with the guys?”

Naghi handed the COMM towards Guren. Within minutes of trying to contact the others, he finally got hold of the others, they were ready, even though they were still hours away from the mission. The COMM itself was working perfectly, and everything went according to plan, for now.


	6. The True Endgame I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the day finally arrives, the Champions set out on their fateful mission, with one party still unaware of the fate that awaits them in the dark, while the other party desperately trying to save them from that terrible fate.

**Sil. XII, 835 R.G.**

Nighttime finally arrived, and the Champions gathered at the chocobo ranch, wishing each other a safe journey and a safe return. Little did they know, it wouldn’t be a safe journey.

“Kotetsu, can you… give me a moment with Kurasame?”

“Sure.”

Kotetsu then left both of them alone, he decided to give one last check to their chocobos. With both of them alone, Miwa finally had the chance to say what she had been wanting to say ever since Kurasame and Aoi broke up a while ago.

“Listen, when we return home, can I stop by your dorm?”

“Sure, I guess?” Kurasame was confused. “Do you have something to say?”

“Yeah.”

“Can’t you tell me now?” Kurasame narrowed his eyes. “We’re about to do the most important mission of our lives.”

“No, my word, no. I’m afraid it will bog your mind during the mission.”

“Fine, then. Good luck, Miwa.”

She ended up not telling him, even though it should’ve been the perfect time to do so.

The wheels were finally set in motion, with Miwa being the first one to set out with her chocobo. The next one to set out was Kotetsu, and after around ten minutes, Kurasame set out last.

The moment Kurasame reached the wooded area of Meroe, he could feel there was someone watching him from the tree line. He dismounted from his chocobo and conjured his notorious Iceblade all the while he inspected his surroundings. The moment Kurasame’s attention was towards the northern direction, a figure emerged from the tree line, surging swiftly towards Kurasame. The figure made a mistake by stepping on a pile of leafs, grabbing Kurasame’s attention. He lost his element of surprise because of this.

“Morse! You again?!”

Kurasame was thoroughly shocked that he nearly got killed instantly by Morse, but he was saved by that one mistake Morse made. Face-to-face with him, Kurasame assumed his defensive stance, bracing for the madman’s onslaught.

“You’re lucky,” taunted Morse towards Kurasame. “You would’ve died if not for those stupid leafs.”

Kurasame sighed. “Well then, it’s you and me again, for the last time.”

Morse smirked, and surged towards the young man wielding the Iceblade. Morse held the advantage as he was used to fighting in the dark better than Kurasame had ever been, he managed to put Kurasame in the defensive as he mercilessly delivered his attacks, all the while Kurasame was actually prepared for everything Morse threw at him, he was planning to tire Morse as he conserved his energy for a decisive blow in Morse’s weak spot in his armor, his joints. The moment Kurasame’s sights were set upon his joints, Kurasame thrusted his Iceblade deep within his joints, but Morse still didn’t flinch at all, and he just unintentionally disarmed Kurasame with his blade still stuck in his joints. Enraged, Morse managed to tackle Kurasame down to the ground with his face planted in the soil, this was the moment Morse waiting for, he readied his katana to finish Kurasame right there and then, but suddenly, before he could even swing his katana, Morse slipped to the ground.

“What is this now?! How did you even do it?!”

Kurasame gathered his strength back, and managed to stand up once again.

“Haven’t you heard? I’m the Ice Reaper.”

Kurasame retracted his blade from Morse’s joint, Kurasame then grabbed Morse’s hand and threw him straight towards a tree, and then, almost instantly, with inhuman focus, Kurasame threw his Iceblade directly towards Morse’s direction. Before Morse’s eyes, Kurasame magically teleported to his Iceblade, and thrusted it straight through his guts, pinning Morse on the tree. Finally, at this moment, Morse finally realized that Kurasame intended to kill him this time, unlike before where he only aimed to injure him.

“You have thirty seconds. Now talk, how do you know I’m here?”

“I lost, good for you, Kurasame.”

“Twenty.”

He smirked. “The Ice Reaper was no longer needed by its own people.”

“Ten. Stop talking in riddles.”

“The one with **intelligence** , you’ll never know what’s in their heads, if you’re not careful, not even friendship can stop them from doing something they believed.”

Kurasame grabbed a small notepad from his pocket and wrote what Morse said. Morse couldn’t understand why he did that.

“Tell me more. I promise I’ll let you go.”

Morse smiled. “You can’t trust everyone, Kurasame, not even your Cadetmaster.”

“The Cadetmaster?!”

“She sold you all, just for a piece of information. Now you see, Kurasame, you’re just as worthless as me. Release me now, and join me instead, together, we’ll strike fear within the hearts of the peoples of our nations.”

Morse thought he would be released just like that. However, the moment he stared into Kurasame’s cyan eyes, he couldn’t see any mercy within him, and then, he finally realized, Kurasame wasn’t nicknamed the Ice Reaper for nothing. Kurasame did release him from the pin, but…

“I will never be like you.”

He did so only to slash Morse right at his throat.

Morse laughed. “So, this is how it ends. Good luck with your choice, hero.”

He then fell to the ground. He gave no efforts in trying to stop the fountain of blood from his throat, within seconds, Morse of the Empire, was no more than a fairy tale.

“I just… couldn’t let you live.”

Not even ten seconds passed when the Crystal erased Morse from Kurasame’s mind. Kurasame still had that note he wrote moments earlier, though, he must’ve anticipated all of this, after all.

“ _The Cadetmaster sold us? And… the intelligence? Kotetsu? No… I refuse to believe it!_ ”

Kurasame mounted his chocobo, and hastily headed towards Hendon Stronghold.


	7. The True Endgame II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Kurasame discovering the truth, he had to make it in time to ensure that Miwa's safe more than anything. What's this feeling he felt inside him? He suddenly felt the urgency to save Miwa above all else.

**Sil. XII 835 R.G.**

Meanwhile, near Hendon Stronghold, Miwa finally reached their rendezvous point, where she would continue her ride once she made sure that Kotetsu and Kurasame made it through their planned checkpoint. She didn’t know that Naghi and Guren were watching her from afar, Guren decided that this is the perfect time to intercept. Without hesitation, Guren immediately went out of his hiding spot and dragged Miwa back towards their initial position.

“G-Guren?! What are you doing here?!” –she glanced towards the other— “Naghi! What’s going on here?!”

“We don’t have long. Naghi will do the talking.”

Naghi stepped forward and revealed everything as fast as he could. She was deeply horrified, she couldn’t believe that she was heading into her own death alongside Kurasame and the others. She gasped in shock trying to collect her composure as she tried to comprehend all of the facts, nobody could blame her. Miwa was the youngest of the Four Champions and she treasured her friends so much that she still couldn’t believe that Kotetsu was planning to kill them all.

Finally calmed down, she said, “So… what do we do then?”

“We’ll try to talk Kotetsu out of it if possible, if not, we’ll have to put him down.”

“You can’t be serious! You want us to kill him?!”

Guren firmly held Miwa’s shoulders. “Look at me! What choice do we have?! He’s planning to kill us all and you’re still hesitant on doing this?!”

Miwa started to cry, prompting Guren to soften his tone.

“Look… I just can’t let you guys die, especially knowing you and Kura—,”

Miwa’s eyes widen. “No… I’ll do it. Just give me the plan.”

Guren turned out to know something between Miwa and Kurasame, but Miwa prevented him from proceeding further to reveal everything in front of Naghi. Racing against the time, Guren told Miwa to tell the others that there had been a slight change of plan and that they had to regroup right where Miwa stood, the rendezvous point. Taking a deep breath, Miwa tried to collect all of her composure.

“Come in, Kurasame, Kotetsu.”

They both responded. “(On COMM) Go for it.”

“There had been a change of plan, head immediately towards the RV.”

“(On COMM) Roger that!”

The moment Miwa mentioned the change of plan, Kotetsu knew that Miwa must’ve discovered their true plan, and he knew that Guren must be in it, somehow. He was working with the Cadetmaster, after all, there shouldn’t be a change at all at their plan without the Cadetmaster telling him personally. His plan crumbled even further as Kurasame arrived beside Kotetsu, he just shaved that fifteen-minute gap between them like it was nothing at all, Kurasame must’ve rode like hell, for a reason, and Kotetsu knew it.


	8. The True Endgame III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the party nearly reaching the ambush grounds, everyone braced for the fateful moment of their lives, the stakes couldn't be higher than this.

**Sil. XII 835 R.G.**

Back on Section Four, Yui managed to pinpoint both Kotetsu and Kurasame’s position by tracking the signal of their COMMs, she had to admit that it was strange that Kurasame could catch Kotetsu that way, he must’ve had something in his mind that forced him to ride like hell.

“Naghi, come in. Cadets Kotetsu and Kurasame are riding side by side. This is strange.”

“(On COMM) Cadet Kurasame? Why he is rushing like that?”

“I think he knows all this. He was fighting someone before, right?”

“(On COMM) I don’t remember. If that’s the case, whoever it was, they must’ve been spilling the truth for Kurasame.”

“Great! All the easier for us then.”

Section Four’s technological supremacy finally surfaced as Yui booted another device that showed the detailed position of the operatives, Naghi, and Guren. Further using her knowledge in the device, she managed to also pinpoint Miwa, Kurasame, and Kotetsu’s positions on the map, this would help her giving them a warning should Kotetsu acted rashly.

“Alright, I have eyes on all of your position.”

“(On COMM) Nice, be our eyes in the skies, Yui.”

Around five minutes later, both Kotetsu and Kurasame finally arrived to the scene. Right at this moment, Miwa could see the different look in Kurasame’s eyes, he looked… angry. Kotetsu was the first one to dismount, while Kurasame seemed to be letting him walk ahead of him. With Kotetsu in a safe distance, Kurasame dismounted from his chocobo. Kurasame whispered something to the chocobos that made all of them abruptly ran away from the field silently.

With the field cleared, Kurasame conjured his notorious Iceblade, the sound of the blade being dragged across the snowy soil grabbed Kotetsu’s attention. With his amazing reflex, Kotetsu conjured a wind barrier, blocking Kurasame’s path.

“So you know it too, Kurasame,” said Kotetsu, conjuring his dagger at the same time.

“I was just testing you. But the way you say it, I know that it’s true!”

“Why did you accept it, Kotetsu?!” Miwa shouted.

“I did what I judged to be right. Just think about it, before our own eyes, Milites would rule the world if I don’t do this. Their weapons, do you even know how terrifying Ultima Weapon would be in the future?

“If the Cadetmaster obtained the information regarding that weapon, she would’ve find a way to prevent it being used, with a small sacrifice, us.”

“I couldn’t believe you took that mission just like that, Kotetsu,” Miwa said, with her tears pouring from her beautiful blue eyes.

And then, both Naghi and Guren emerged from their hiding spot.

“Surely you’re aware that we Intelligence Operatives exists to take care problems like those things you mentioned. We could find a way around this.”

“You’re… from Class Ninth. I should’ve known you guys are everywhere.”

Guren shouted, “Does our friendship mean nothing to you?!”

“Silence! You wouldn’t understand. There was no other way, that weapon just entered its final stages in its development!”

Deep inside, Kotetsu couldn’t admit his mistakes, he had his pride, he couldn’t just back down from what he started. There were only two things he had in mind, it was either kill them all here, or die trying. Conjuring a massive wall of wind, he concealed himself from view as the four cadets pulled back, they finally knew there was no peaceful resolve, they had to put him down, one way or another.

“Okay, Yui, now is the great time to be our eyes.”

“(On COMM) Affirmative. Be careful, Naghi.”

With Yui in play, there would be no way that they could lose to Kotetsu, they outnumbered him 4 to 1, all they had to do was to be careful with his sudden strikes.

“(On COMM) North!” Yui called.

Kurasame and his colleagues turned north and found Kotetsu just right at that direction, Guren took every hit Kotetsu delivered like it was nothing at all, in turn, Kurasame surged forward from Guren’s back, the snowy atmosphere granted Kurasame a split second of surprise as Kotetsu’s reaction was heavily delayed due to the view. Kurasame managed to graze him slightly in his left shoulder, and the latter immediately conjured another wall of wind, concealing him yet again.

“(On COMM) South!”

“Affirmed.”

Kotetsu just radically changed his direction, this means if Kurasame’s team turned around, Miwa would be their spearhead, and she was definitely unfit for that role. Surprisingly, just as Kotetsu surged towards Miwa, she slid past him and tackled him to the ground, giving Guren time to hastily deliver blows of his own. Despite all this heat, Kotetsu wouldn’t just give in, he conjured another set of wind wall, but this time, he didn’t intend to conceal himself, but rather to knock Miwa and Guren to the ground, he managed to do so as Miwa and Guren got confused by the wall, this left Kurasame and Kotetsu, face-to-face.

“Kotetsu, what you did just signed your own death warrant.”

“Then I’ll be glad to die on the hands of my own friends rather than some Imperial scums.”

In a flash, Kotetsu conjured yet another wind wall, attempting to flank Kurasame. Little did Kotetsu know, he was standing right in front of Naghi’s sights. Naghi reacted immediately by conjuring a fire magic that encircled Kotetsu’s position. With zero hesitation, Naghi conjured his switchblade and surged towards the man.

“(On COMM) Naghi, turn back! He’s dangerous!”

Ignoring her advice, Naghi kept on closing his distance with Kotetsu. He turned off his COMM, not wanting to be distracted by Yui’s call, this caused a chain reaction that ultimately rendered Yui’s device useless as Naghi’s COMM was used by her as a chain to track all five of them, furthermore, she couldn’t even contact the others, as it depended on Naghi’s COMM as well.

Naghi felt there was something wrong, Kotetsu seemed to be calm inside the circle, he was patient, waiting for the circle to be put down naturally by the snowfall. Naghi thought that Kotetsu was unaware that he was charging towards him, but he was wrong, the moment Naghi entered the flaming circle, Kotetsu abruptly turned around and blocked Naghi’s thrust. Kotetsu was more experienced than Naghi in combat, the latter just made a mistake trying to run him down, but what he did just saved Kurasame’s life as he had no idea that he had been flanked by Kotetsu. Hearing the fight behind him, Kurasame finally turned around and rushed to Naghi’s aid.

“Naghi! No! Run away!”

This was a mistake by Kurasame, as Naghi got distracted by him calling his name. The moment Naghi set his eyes towards Kurasame, Kotetsu managed to break free from their blade lock, and stabbed him directly in the chest.

Kurasame was shocked by the sight. “Kotetsu! What the hell are you doing?!”

Before everyone’s eyes, Naghi fell to the ground, with Kotetsu’s dagger still planted in his chest. In that moment, Kotetsu finally realized what he had done, unnecessary blood had been spilled, all for his ideals. If only he had listened to what they said, all of these wouldn’t happen.

Miwa, even though with a blurred vision, saw it all happening and rushed to Naghi’s side, neglecting her own wounds. The moment Miwa saw where the dagger was planted, she finally realized… that Naghi would surely die. Kotetsu’s dagger, directly hit Naghi in his vitals, there was no helping him and he had only seconds to live.

Glaring angrily towards Kotetsu, she shouted, “You have no right to live after what you’ve done! He was innocent!”

Guren and Kurasame were out of words, they just witnessed the dark side of Miwa. She was the most diplomatic and reasonable of them all, not to mention her role as a healer, but she had just straight up told Kotetsu that he had no right to live right in front of everyone.

As for Kotetsu, he was still stoned right where he stood. Guren then took an extreme measure by kicking Kotetsu in his guts, forcing him to kneel to the ground. Still filled with anger, Guren kicked him in the back, and he immediately pinned Kotetsu to the ground with his right foot.

“C-cadet Miwa?” Naghi said, weakly, he couldn’t clearly see what was in front of him, but he knew that it was Miwa.

“I’m here, Naghi… please hang on!” she said, holding him tightly, trying to keep him warm.

“Cadet Miwa… please save your strength, I’m done for… but at the very least… I could thank you for all you’ve done,” he said, smiling.

“W-what are you saying?!”

“You’ve opened my heart… at that time…” –Naghi coughed a lot of blood— “I think I like—”

“Naghi?! No!” Miwa cried heavily, “Please open your eyes!”

Naghi didn’t respond. His soul just left his body, Cadet Naghi Minatsuchi of the Class Ninth, died, after saving the Champions of Rubrum. In a blink of an eye, he was erased from everyone’s memories.

“W-why am I crying?” Miwa said, in confusion.

“Miwa… that boy, he’s wearing your bandana.”

“This... bandana, this is… mine?”

Kurasame then motioned towards Guren, and the latter released Kotetsu from his pin. Guren forcefully pulled Kotetsu to stand up.

“That dagger, it was mine. I killed him.”

Miwa said, “Yes. Someone died for your false ideals, Kotetsu.”

Kurasame punched him in the face. “You will come home with us, and face trial alongside the Cadetmaster.”

“No. I will take the easy way out.”

“What?!”

Like a flash, Kotetsu dived towards Naghi’s corpse and took the dagger out of his chest. They might think Kotetsu wanted to make a last stand fighting them, but they were wrong, without hesitation, Kotetsu stabbed himself in the heart.

“I’ll die here with dignity, even though I will be remembered as a traitor.”

Before their eyes, Kotetsu died instantly, and before they could even react, the Crystal already erased him from their memories, their friendship, everything. All they remembered from that point on was that the traitor killed himself, after feeling the guilt having someone innocent killed.

“Let’s… carry them back to Akademeia.”

Back on Section Four, Yui finally managed to get hold of Guren once again.

“(On COMM) The real traitor… he killed himself, it’s done.”

“Are you guys alright?”

“(On COMM) We’re fine. But the boy who were with us just sacrificed his life for us.”

Yui sighed, she couldn’t remember him anyways. “Very well, Cadet Guren. I’ll gladly announce to you that Takumi had your name cleared, and you’re allowed to return to Akademeia, but not before we’re done with the Cadetmaster. Now listen carefully,

“Have Cadet Kurasame RV with Takumi in the FC. As for you, Cadet Guren, come to S4 for the time being. I know that there’s still hours left until daylight, but I advise you guys to make it quick.”

“(On COMM) Affirmative. Thanks for your hard work, Yui.”


	9. Loose Ends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Three Champions survived... but at what cost? A young boy who haven't lived his life to the fullest just paid the price for what Rubrum dangerously played.

**Sil. XIII 835 R.G.**

The Champions’ job was not over yet, they still had to deal with the Cadetmaster, thankfully, they had everything planned to the letter on their ride home towards Akademeia. Miwa was injured more than Kurasame and the others that she needed some serious treatment. After they brought Miwa to the infirmary, Takumi spoke with Kurasame on the fountain courtyard to give him the details on their next move.

“When this is over, we’ll wake up feeling all better,” Takumi said.

“Right. Thank you, Takumi, and I’m sorry that one of yours died while doing this.”

“It’s okay. The Crystal erased our memories, that seemed to help. Whoever he was, he probably did his best back there.”

“Well then, Takumi, shall we?”

Both Takumi and Kurasame entered the Cadetmaster’s office, even though it was midnight already, she was still in her Consortium uniform, she must’ve known what awaited her that she dressed up for the occasion.

“So, you survived, Kurasame.”

“We survived.”

“Are you here to bring me to justice?”

Kurasame coldly glared towards her. “We’re here to take your life.”

“Very well, then. At the very least, please grant me a dignified death.”

Takumi smirked. “You don’t deserve a dignified death, but we’ll let you have it that way, consider this… mercy, even though you did something terrible for the Champions.”

She didn’t deserve a mercy for all she did, and what Takumi said was a lie, he didn’t plan on giving her a death she wanted, he was planning to make her death… a gruesome assassination. Takumi then took out something from his pocket, it was a dagger, but not a Rubrum made dagger, it was a standard issued dagger for Militesi spies. However, the Cadetmaster didn’t know about this, as it was really dark where they stood.

“Thank you, in the end, justice prevails.” The Cadetmaster then closed her eyes, waiting for her execution.

Instead of doing it by himself, Takumi offered the honors to Kurasame.

“Would you do the honors, Cadet Kurasame?”

“Very well.”

Takumi then said, in a whispering tone, “Make it a gruesome death.”

Giving him a nod, Kurasame approached the Cadetmaster. Filled with deep anger, Kurasame sliced the Cadetmaster’s throat, killing her instantly. Within seconds, the floor of her office was painted red.

Takumi offered his hand. “Welcome to Code Crimson, Cadet Kurasame.”

Kurasame refused to take his hand and dropped the dagger beside the Cadetmaster’s corpse.

“I’m leaving. You’ll take care of this, right?”

“Yes. Have a good rest, Cadet Kurasame.”

“Thank you, we are in your debt.”

With the Cadetmaster dead, there was still one more thing the Class Ninth cadets had to do, it was to deliver the fake news that the Cadetmaster was assassinated by a Militesi spy. The fact that Kotetsu died helped them adding more details to the assassination, they would mention that Kotetsu tried to save her, only to be killed as well. The one who would announce it was the one closest to the Class Ninth cadets, Mr. Riiroi Matsumaeda.

Takumi and Yui met him on the terrace at dawn, there were no one else but them right there, as most of the cadets were still probably sleeping. Takumi wasted no time on telling him everything that happened in the night before. Due to the nature of a person involved in these kind of affairs, Riiroi reacted unsurprised, he was even glad that they managed to pull it off in one single day.

“You kids really lived up to your expectations, and for that, I thank you for your service. I’ll take care of it.”

“Thank you, Mr. Matsumaeda.”

“Your welcome, kiddos. What are your names again?”

“I’m Cadet Takumi,” he then glared towards Yui. “This is Cadet Yui.”

“Alright then, cadets, you may go now, and thank you again.”

Over the course of that day, Riiroi halted all of the lectures across all of the classes to deliver the public announcement about the Cadetmaster’s death, he stated that the Cadetmaster held an important information about the Four Champions of Rubrum that she was being hunted by the Militesi spies, Kotetsu was also mentioned, as a hero who tried to save her, but got killed in the process, the spy was said to be taking his own life when Kotetsu mortally wounded him. Furthermore, Guren’s betrayal was actually a plot from the Militesi spies to frame him on the Cadetmaster’s assassination, and just like that, his name was entirely cleared, and he could finally return to Akademeia in peace.

With all being said, Riiroi contacted Section Four to escort Guren back to Akademeia.


	10. Resolve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Champions could finally return to their normal lives, but can they cope with the feelings of loss that they just suffered not two days back? Even though they survived, that lingering feeling of guilt will always haunt them.

**Sil. XIII 835 R.G.**

Hours later, Guren finally returned to Akademeia, a free man, all of the charges against him had been dropped after the truth unfolded. The first thing he did was to meet Kurasame, who was at the infirmary to look after Miwa.

“Look who’s back,” Miwa said, smiling.

“It’s the oldest guy of the Champions.”

“Come on, stop it already.”

Then, for one hour, they had a pleasant talk with each other, everything sad that happened the other day seemed to completely vanished from their memories, including their good friend, Kotetsu, and the one who sacrificed his very life for them, Naghi Minatsuchi. Sadly, the trio would never find out his name as Class Ninth had a tradition to remove traces of one’s existence upon their death.

Guren sighed. “So… we’re still alive after all this.”

“Yeah. I can’t stop thinking about that boy who sacrificed himself for us.”

Miwa then took out the bandana she retrieved from Naghi.

“I spoke with him, I think. He wore this bandana, which means I must’ve given it to him.”

Kurasame noticed Miwa’s tears slowly pouring from her eyes. What he did next, made Miwa’s heartbeat quickened. Miwa could feel the warm touch of Kurasame’s hand as he wiped her tears away, Guren could see it as clear as daylight and tried to hold back his grin.

“Kurasame,” Guren interrupted, “can I talk to you for a minute, outside?”

“Yeah sure.” He then glared towards Miwa. “Mi—”

She said, smiling. “Just go.”

Guren took Kurasame to the terrace, he was actually very mad at Kurasame on how he was really clueless on Miwa’s true feelings that he wanted to punch him in the face. However, since they had a really bad day the other day, he decided to take a diplomatic approach, by slowly talking him into it. Before Guren could come up with words, Kurasame was the first one to talk.

“So, your betrayal… you actually knew everything all along, huh?”

“Yes. I just can’t let you guys die.” Guren glared towards the bright blue skies of that strangely very hot afternoon. “I can’t imagine how everything will play out if those Class Ninth guys didn’t intervene.”

Kurasame looked down. “Yeah. The real traitor… he was our friend, right?”

“He was. I’m sure he had his own reasons to take that order.”

“You’re right. He was known as a hero here, but in our hearts, he was the man trying to kill us.”

“That’s one way to keep our integrity, Kurasame. We couldn’t afford another traitor living among us.”

They had to stop their conversation as several cadets arrived to the terrace, as it was lunch time, they headed towards the ready room instead. Both of them enjoyed the delightful taste of the “Between Truth and Lies Sandwich”, they hadn’t had a real food for weeks now due to their heavy involvement in missions that they were only forced to rely on Cadets’ MREs, which didn’t taste really good.

“Say, speaking about food, let’s have a dinner tomorrow night, the three of us.”

“That would be great! Your treat?” Kurasame said, chuckling.

“Yeah, my treat.”

It was his treat. Guren actually planned this dinner even before the late Cadetmaster issued them the fateful mission, but he had to delay it after his betrayal, but now that everything was resolved, he set things back in motion, by renting the whole ready room for a dinner, not just a dinner, but a “delightful” dinner, with candles, some lovely foods, and more. On the last sentence of his plan, he wasn’t planning a dinner for three, but a dinner for two.


	11. Happy Endings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Kurasame's heart resolved, he had only one thing to do, one last mission.

**Sil. XIV 835 R.G.**

On the night of the dinner, Kurasame arrived early. The first thing he did was inspecting his surroundings, he could feel that there was something strange with this particular dinner. The room seemed to be set in a romantic atmosphere, with candles in his table, and musicians playing some wonderful tunes on the corner of the room.

“ _This is so strange. I’ve never seen the ready room like this before. Besides, where is everybody? Did everyone eat outside Akademeia at this time?_ ”

And then, a servant arrived to his table, delivering a letter, from Guren.

“Thank you, Mr., wait… you’re Mr. Nishimura! The Comedian!”

“It’s great to be recognized.” Nishimura smiled. “By the way, your welcome. Enjoy your date.”

“ _A date?!_ ”

Kurasame then hastily opened the letter.

It read, “ _Kurasame, I got you! This is not a dinner for three, but a dinner for two, I had to use my last year’s saving to rent the whole room, though, but I know it will be worth it. Miwa’s in love with you, and I know you’re in love with her too, YOU TWO ARE MEANT FOR EACH OTHER! Just confess it, she’ll come any minute now after this letter reached you. –The Oldest Champion._ ”

Miwa did arrive around a minute after Kurasame read the letter. They gave each other a pleasant warm greeting, Kurasame was glad that Miwa could make it here that night. He thought earlier that she would spend the rest of the week in the infirmary.

“So, I was at the infirmary earlier, grabbing my stuff. And then, I ran into your classmate, Miura, she said that Guren got sick and couldn’t be here for the dinner.”

Kurasame grinned, and couldn’t say anything.

“Kurasame?”

“Yes?”

“Guren’s not sick, isn’t he?”

Kurasame’s heart was filled with anxiety. “He’s not.” –he cleared his throat— “So, Miwa… this dinner is actually—”

“Dinner for two?” she said, looking away and blushing.

The two looked away, blushing. And at the moment they finally gathered the courage to stare at each other, they said the same magical thing that they always wanted to say to each other.

“ **I love you.** ”

That magical sentence entered their minds, and their heartbeat quickened, it was almost as if time stopped for both of them due to the magic words. And then, Kurasame stood up and offered his hand to Miwa, she was smiling in tears, this moment was just so beautiful for her. She took his hand and also stood up, then, with their faces only few inches apart from each other, they slowly leaned towards each other… and they kissed. Words just couldn’t describe their happiness towards each other, a flame that anxiously waited to be ignited was finally being ignited that night. Both of them were really meant for each other from the beginning, and it seemed that fate gave its blessing for them as their love grew stronger and stronger within each hour passed in their lives.

THE END.


End file.
